‘The ceasefire never took effect inside Iran’

A version of this interview was first published at Alternative Viewpoint.

Nasrin Parvaz became a civil rights activist after the rise of the Islamic regime in 1979. For this, she was arrested in 1982 and imprisoned, enduring eight years of torture. On being released, Parvaz again took up political activism.

She was later forced to flee to Britain in 1993 as a refugee, where she continued her activism, speaking out against different kinds of oppression in Iran and elsewhere. Having acquired the skills to write about her life and create fiction at the Freedom from Torture writing workshop, Parvaz has gone on to become a prolific writer and poet.1

Speaking to Farooq Sulehria, Parvaz discussed the fallout of the recent US-Israeli war on Iran and the Islamic regime’s response.

US President Donald Trump said on July 23 that the US might yet again attack Iran? Do you think Washington is likely to do so?

It depends on what they want from the regime and if the regime is willing to accept this or not. For example, if the regime resists a request for them to step down and reform their leadership then yes, the US may once again attack.

In January 1979, the US asked the Shah to leave the country and a month later escorted [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini into Iran. Of course, Western governments decided this without letting any journalists into their meeting. The people of the world did not know what the West had decided for Iran.

Today, once again it is the same. We do not know what the Western governments’ plans are. Only in fifty years time will the West release their papers with evidence of what they decided in 2025 for Iran and why they started illegally bombing the country.

Israel and the US have not been ignorant of the regime chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America” for the past 46 years; they are not only hearing it for the first time now. 

One of the reasons the West needs to change the regime at this particular moment is that they are afraid of people rising up in Iran as much as the regime is. Any change brought about by the people in Iran would inspire others in the region to stand up for their rights against Western-installed and backed regimes in their countries.

Israeli-US bombings are designed to kill people’s revolutionary spirit as much as they are designed to destabilise the regime. This is done by assassinating the regime’s personnel, so people cannot find any reason to rise up against a new regime. 

It is like how the West asked [former dictator Bashar al-]Assad to leave Syria and replaced him with another criminal who was on the US’s wanted list.

Some on the left, both inside and outside of Iran, opposed regime change while not supporting the Ayatollahs.

Yes, fortunately many leftists opposed regime change because we know what it means. Regime changes only benefit the West and those at the top of the organisations. They bring nothing but misery for citizens.

Iran has experienced two regime changes: first, in 1953 when Britain and the US removed [Prime Minister Mohammad] Mosaddegh in a coup and brought back the Shah, who had fled from Iran; second, in 1979.

The West is now publicly promoting the monarchy in order to have an alternative for another governmental regime change in Iran. The Shah's son [Reza Pahlavi] praised the bombs landing in Iran that killed civilians.

[Pahlavi] has no interest in the wellbeing of innocent Iranians, just like the Islamic regime, the Israeli government and Trump.

Now that Washington and Tel Aviv have failed to effect regime change, how do you assess the situation? Can we say the failure of the US-Israeli plan is a good thing?

The US and Israel’s plans are not finished. A coup is presently taking place at a brutally slow pace. This is a regime change.

Israel also has not finished its attacks and is assassinating more regime personnel. They use drones to explode apartments, houses and cars where regime members are present.

But with the death of each criminal, more innocent people who live in neighbouring buildings and streets are killed. Everyday people see fires and they know that it is Israel destroying the infrastructure of their society.

The regime says these are the result of gas faults or create other fictions to hide the truth. It does not want to show weakness. The West looks the other way, not reporting any of the killing in Iran.

The ceasefire never took effect inside Iran. Only Iran stopped bombing Israel.

Mainstream media are not reporting this, but one hears from Iranian sources about sabotage activities on an almost daily basis. Do you think Israel has changed its plan and that the war is not over?

The Iran-Israel conflict is not new. Israel has been undertaking military activities in Iran and sabotaging the regime for many years. They have hit nuclear sites and other places before.

To give just a few examples of Israeli sabotage before this round of attacks:

• In 2024, Israel initiated a series of direct confrontations including in April that year, when the Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes targeting an air defence radar site at an airbase near Isfahan, in central Iran.
• On February 14, 2024, attacks were carried out against nuclear facilities and natural gas pipelines, and nuclear scientists were killed.
• In April 2024, an Israeli airstrike demolished the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attack on Israel.
• On July 31, 2024, Hamas leader [Ismail] Haniyeh was assassinated by Israeli airstrikes during a visit to Tehran.
• On October, 26, 2024, Israel attacked Iran, striking air defence systems and sites associated with its missile program.

Even now, Israel is still launching drones into Iran every day.

Do you think the Iranian regime is weak after the war? Or has it gained some popularity by defying the might of the US and Israel?

The regime is weak, because it has lost many of its top personnel.

The regime has not gained any popularity over the Israel-US attacks on Iran. It is not like the 1980s, when people supported the regime during the Iran-Iraq war before returning from the battlefields in death shrouds.

People were already against the regime before the Israel-US attacks and there were many uprisings in Iran. This war did not make people support the regime.

Before the Israeli bombings, another uprising was beginning to form in Iran. Truck drivers in more than 163 towns had been on strike for three weeks. More than 40 of them have been arrested.

It was one of the biggest workers’ strikes in Iran to date. Their strike could have led to a national uprising because of a lack of food distribution, especially in bakeries that are essential to local people that had been affected.

During the last few days, despite Israeli operations inside Iran, people have come out of the shock of being bombed and have started demonstrating and picketing against the regime.

There is news of increased repression within Iran, with dissidents being imprisoned and receiving harsh punishments. What does this indicate? Does it show that the regime has found some renewed legitimacy after the war and is using this to silence dissidents?

Arrests and executions are a part of life in Iran; this struggle continues. There are prisoners who have been behind bars for 25 years.

However, during the bombings the number of arrests was much higher than normal. Thousands of people have been arrested. Prisoners who had been in prison for years were executed with the justification that they were Israeli spies.

War has always been an excuse to suppress people. More than 5000 prisoners were executed during the Iran-Iraq war in 1988. Fifty prisoners were taken from the wing I was in and they never came back.

Afghans have been expelled in their hundreds of thousands. Iran otherwise champions the cause of Muslims. How are Iranians inside reacting to the expulsion of Afghans?

It is not only Western governments, such as Britain, which use immigrants as a scapegoat. The Islamic regime also blames poverty, lack of jobs, water shortages and electricity failures on Afghan refugees. Just like in Britain, some people in Iran believe the lies of the government and have become racist, turning against innocent people from Afghanistan.

Even before Israel attacked Iran, the regime had already created an anti-immigrant climate, where Afghans faced regular police violence and discrimination. 

In 2024 the regime ordered all undocumented Afghans to return to their country. In May 2025 the regime ordered mass deportations of more than 4 million immigrants. They gathered and deported them like slaves.

Afghans born in Iran with valid visas have been deported. More than one million refugees were deported in 2025. Many of them were born and raised in Iran during the past four decades. Many of these people are totally integrated into Iran society. They have been ripped away from their lives and friends.

The Iranian regime is uprooting Afghan people from their homes and communities. Children who were born in Iran are taken out of their schools and the only environment they grew up in to be deported to Afghanistan. 

People have had their homes raided simply for being of Afghan origin. They have been arrested and forcibly returned to Afghanistan.

Some Afghans, who were searched and arrested in the street, were not allowed to go home to pack their things. Some could not receive their rental deposits back after leaving. They were just put on a bus and taken to the border. Many arrived in Afghanistan with no money, food or shelter.

Women, girls, activists and journalists who have been deported face high risk of human rights violations at the hands of the Taliban. Severe restrictions on women and girls await them. Girls are very upset about not having the right to continue their studies.

Afghans have the lowest class status in Iran. The regime justifies its attack on Afghans by accusing them of collaborating with Mossad to carry out internal terrorist attacks in Iran. Yet Israel assassinated top officials whose addresses would have been inaccessible to Afghans.

Afghans are paid less than Iranian workers. Most of the recently built buildings in Iran, especially in Tehran, were built by Afghans.

However some people have been brainwashed by the regime into blaming Afghans for their own financial woes and treating them badly. 

For years Afghans have had no right to go to certain towns or areas. They have experienced terrifying discrimination, humiliation, ill-treatment and injustice from the regime and some of its citizens. Many have faced violence, detention, and abuse.

It is not only Israel that displaces Palestinians from their homes. The Iranian regime is doing the same with Afghans; the difference is that, unlike Israel, the Islamic regime does not drop bombs on them.

After Israel’s attacks, the regime was like a wounded animal that struck out in anger and deported more than half a million Afghans in mere weeks. This is the largest forced return in recent memory.

Israel’s bombings increased anti-Afghan xenophobia in Iran. Poverty and the current anti-immigrant policies have killed some people’s empathy. Unfortunately, not many people support Afghans. They believe regime propaganda that Afghans are Israeli spies.

I have seen clips on social media showing Afghans detained in prisons without water and food while waiting to be deported. They have to care for babies without essentials such as baby food.

Some local people brought baby milk, nappies, bread and water for them. They tried to pass these things to the locked up Afghans underneath the door of their cages.

Many of these people will end up in Afghanistan carrying painful memories of state racism and an uncertain future. They have left behind everything they built and must start over with nothing but courage and hope.

Afghan women are being sent back to a system that hates women for being women. Single women are denied shelter as they lack a male guardian. They are being deported to hell.

Everyone deserves safety and dignity, no matter where they are from. Collective expulsion is illegal. Yet it is deliberate state policy. No access to asylum. No due process.

The fact that a European regime such as Israel can treat people in Palestine as it does, is why the Islamic regime can create this terror without condemnation.

Western governments handed power to the Taliban in 2021, which caused more Afghans to seek asylum in surrounding countries. Thousands of women and children fled to Iran as refugees.

Europe has said in the past that Afghans will be safe in Iran, and that they should seek protection regionally. As we can see, they are not safe at all in the hands of the Islamic regime or the Taliban.

Thanks to the Western governments that restored the Taliban in Afghanistan, half the population — that is women — essentially live in prisons.

Afghan women must have the right of refuge based on gender apartheid. But gender-based apartheid is not recognised anywhere, especially in Iran, a country that practises gender apartheid. Women are at risk in Afghanistan and should not be deported there, but no one cares.

Women in Western countries have to open their eyes to what their governments have done to women in Afghanistan. They should outstretch their hands towards Afghan women and try to guarantee refugee rights for women living under gender apartheid.

The Western governments that installed the Taliban in power owe the Afghan people. They should give humanitarian visas and safe passage to Afghan women and their families out of Iran in order to save them from the Taliban.

Why does the Iranian regime express concern for Palestinians in the name of Islam, but not Afghans. Do people in Iran point out these double standards?

I do not believe that the Islamic regime is worried for Palestinians. When they say Palestine, what they really mean is Hamas. They say they support Palestinians, but they only support Hamas. 

Some people in Iran do not know the truth and believe what the regime says. They think the regime is supporting Palestinians.

Since people in Iran have been kept poor, some accuse the regime of giving their money to Palestinians and hold a grudge towards Palestinian people. Some people do not see the regime violating their rights and instead blame other people as directed by the regime.

Assad’s regime is gone. In Lebanon, Hezbollah has been weakened. Tehran’s influence is declining in Iraq, according to some analysts. How will the shifting regional situation determine the regime's future?

The West has been trying to reshape the Middle East for a long time. Western governments have been preparing to attack Iran for many years.

Just as the lies told to justify the Iraq war were exposed, the same will be the case with this unlawful attack on Iran. Israel has been telling the world that Iran will have a nuclear bomb in a few months since 2012, yet for some reason now was the right time to attack Iran.

We cannot ignore people and their desires in 2025. We are not living in 1953, when the West changed Iran’s history with a coup.

The Iranian population, especially women, are educated and trying to change the country for good, rather than for what the West wants. People deserve a better life rather than seeing child labour or homeless children every time they leave their home. People want to get rid of unemployment and gain the right to have unemployment benefits and more rights that improve their lives.

I hope the West does not succeed in replacing the regime with a puppet. I hope people determine the future of their own country.

China and Russia did not lend any meaningful support to Tehran during the Israel-US war on Iran, not even diplomatic support of any consequence. Why?

These governments exploit other countries as much as they exploit their own people. Both Russia and China have been using up Iran’s resources.

They do not care about what is happening to the people in the country. They do not care what will happen to the regime, as long as they secure their profits.

The help they will give the regime will be to open their doors to fleeing regime members when they are forced to run from angry Iranian citizens, so that they can drink tea and wine with Assad.

A section of the left declared the Ayatollah’s regime as a bastion of anti-imperialism during the US-Israeli war on Iran. How do you respond to leftist efforts to brand Iran’s theocratic regime as anti-imperial?

It does not matter how a person sees itself. The thing that matters is what they do rather than what they say.

These people are pro-regime, like the Tudeh party that acted against the people and sided with the regime because of its slogans, “Death to America, Death to Israel.” The regime also had another slogan against Russia, but as time passed they realised it was profitable to lean on Russia instead.

These parties see themselves as leftists, but they always act like right-wing organisations. For me, a leftist party would stand with the people, not with those in power.

Unfortunately, some European parties that call themselves leftist, support the Islamic regime because of its slogans against the US and Israel. They refuse to stand with the Iranians who have been oppressed by the regime for the past 46 years. They are used to standing with institutional power.

During the 2022 Woman Life Freedom movement, some of these leftist parties did not support the people’s struggle against the regime. Some of them were so disillusioned that they said this movement must be organised by the US. They stood with the regime while school girls were arrested, raped and their bodies were dumped in the street.

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  Her publications include One Woman’s Struggle in Iran: A Prison Memoir, which won the Women’s Issues category at the 2019 International Book Awards, and The Secret Letters from X to A (Victorina Press, 2018). Her prison memoir has been published in Spanish and German, with forthcoming translations into Turkish and Kurdish by Aram Yayinevi in 2025. The translator for these editions, Mahmut Yamalak, has been imprisoned in Turkey for 31 years, serving a life sentence. 

  Additionally, her novel The Secret Letters from X to A is set to be published in Turkish by Aram Yayinevi in 2025. Her latest novel, Coffee, received a long-list nomination for The Bath Novel Award in 2023. Furthermore, her poems and short stories have been featured in several anthologies, such as Songs of Freedom—A Poetry Anthology by Ten Iranian and Afghan Women Poets (Afsana Press, 2024). Her works have also appeared in prominent publications, including The Guardian, The Morning Star, LBC, and Huck, among others.

  Parvaz has also translated poems from Farsi into English, which have been published in Modern Poetry in Translation and various other anthologies. Additionally, she published a novel in Farsi about the 1988 massacre of prisoners in Iran, of which she was an eyewitness. Furthermore, her paintings have been accepted for inclusion in exhibitions at numerous galleries, including Sotheby’s and OXO Tower Wharf.

  She pursued a degree in psychology and later obtained a master’s degree in international relations. Following this, she completed a postgraduate diploma in applied systemic theory at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where she collaborated with a team of family therapists. She is a member of Exiled Writers Ink (EWI) and the Society of Authors (SOA). 

  Most recently, she spoke about her experiences at a TEDx event in April 2025. For further information, please visit Nasrin Parvaz official website.